Label Shopper to open in Dover-Foxcroft plaza

DOVER-FOXCROFT, Maine — A man who peddled designer clothing from the back of his van in college and who later launched a business that has 32 stores across the country is investing in Dover-Foxcroft.

As soon as Fashion Bug clears out its inventory and closes its doors next month in the Dover-Foxcroft Shopping Plaza, Peter Elitzer of Peter Harris Clothes plans to open a Label Shopper discount store in the space.

“We’re so excited,” Judy Pieurowski, director of stores for Label Shopper, said Friday. She expects the company, which sells name-brand clothing for men, women and children along with plus-size and juniors and home decor, will employ eight or nine people.

Pieurowski said the company is privately owned by Elitzer, who has been in the clothing business for about 40 years. In college he earned the nickname “Pete the Peddler.”

Label Shopper has large and small stores across the country, including three in Maine: Oxford, Jay and Skowhegan. Pieurowski said she learned of Fashion Bug’s closing from Robert Bahre, the owner of the Dover-Foxcroft Shopping Plaza. She said Label Shopper leases space from Bahre in Oxford and Jay and has had a good relationship, so officials decided to open a store in Dover-Foxcroft.

“Our whole concept is to sell famous labels for less,” Pieurowski said. The brands include Columbia, Woolwich and Levi jeans, she said. “We carry a little bit of everything.”